U.S. patent application number 15/852871 was filed with the patent office on 2018-06-28 for unanswered-call handling and routing.
The applicant listed for this patent is Mutare Inc.. Invention is credited to Bennett Crown, Brian McDonald, Roger Northrop, Edward O'Brien, Richard Quattrocchi, Michael Sorensen.
Application Number | 20180183931 15/852871 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 62627969 |
Filed Date | 2018-06-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180183931 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Quattrocchi; Richard ; et
al. |
June 28, 2018 |
Unanswered-Call Handling and Routing
Abstract
An apparatus provides calling parties with an opportunity to
record a voice message when their incoming call goes unanswered and
to then automatically transcribe that voice message to text which
the apparatus then forwards to the called party without also
maintaining the recorded voice message in a voice-mail system.
Inventors: |
Quattrocchi; Richard;
(Barrington, IL) ; O'Brien; Edward; (Arlington
Heights, IL) ; Crown; Bennett; (Arlington Heights,
IL) ; McDonald; Brian; (Bartlett, IL) ;
Sorensen; Michael; (Wheaton, IL) ; Northrop;
Roger; (Mount Prospect, IL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Mutare Inc. |
Rolling Meadows |
IL |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
62627969 |
Appl. No.: |
15/852871 |
Filed: |
December 22, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
62438789 |
Dec 23, 2016 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 2203/4536 20130101;
H04M 2201/60 20130101; G10L 15/26 20130101; G06F 40/58 20200101;
G06F 40/103 20200101; H04M 3/42221 20130101; H04M 3/53308 20130101;
H04M 2203/301 20130101; H04M 3/42059 20130101; G06F 40/30
20200101 |
International
Class: |
H04M 3/533 20060101
H04M003/533; G10L 15/26 20060101 G10L015/26; G06F 17/21 20060101
G06F017/21; G06F 17/27 20060101 G06F017/27 |
Claims
1. An apparatus comprising: a control circuit operably coupled to a
private branch exchange (PBX) and at least one network, the control
circuit being configured to: receive a forwarded call for a target
recipient from the PBX; receive via the forwarded call, and record,
a speech message to provide a recorded speech message;
automatically converting at least a part of the recorded speech
message into a corresponding transcribed text message;
automatically deleting at least a majority of the recorded speech
message without first making the recorded speech message available
to the target recipient via a voice-mail system.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the forwarded call comprises an
unanswered forwarded call when received by the control circuit.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control circuit
automatically converts the at least a part of the recorded speech
message into the corresponding transcribed text message by
forwarding at least a part of the recorded speech message to an
external speech transcription resource.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further
configured to: automatically forward at least a part of the
transcribed text message to the target recipient.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the control circuit is further
configured to: automatically forward at least a part of the
transcribed text message to a recipient other than the target
recipient.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further
configured to: automatically check the transcribed text message for
at least one predetermined expression of interest. The apparatus of
claim 6 wherein the control circuit is further configured to: upon
determining that the transcribed text message includes the at least
one predetermined expression of interest, automatically take at
least one corresponding responsive action.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the corresponding responsive
action comprises at least one of: highlighting the at least one
predetermined expression of interest in the transcribed text
message when forwarding the transcribed text message to a
recipient; selecting a particular recipient to receive the
transcribed text message; archiving at least a portion of the
transcribed text message.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the control circuit is further
configured to: provide a user with an opportunity to identify an
expression as being the predetermined expression of interest.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further
configured to: access additional information and include the
additional information when forwarding the transcribed text message
to a recipient.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the control circuit is
further configured to access the additional information as a
function, at least in part, of at least one of: content of the
transcribed text message; an identity of a party that originated
the call.
12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the additional information
comprises at least one of: contact information regarding a party
that originated the call; personal information regarding the party
that originated the call; professional information regarding the
party that originated the call.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further
configured to: automatically analyze the recorded speech message to
provide analytical content.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the analytical content
comprises at least one of: a conclusion regarding a gender of a
person who voiced the speech message; a conclusion regarding an
emotional state of the person who voiced the speech message; a
conclusion regarding a number of speakers who voiced the speech
message; a measure of a temporal duration of the speech
message.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the analytical content
comprises automatically selected trending expressions.
16. A method comprising: by a control circuit operably coupled to a
private branch exchange (PBX) and at least one network: receiving a
forwarded call for a target recipient from the PBX; receiving via
the forwarded call, and recording, a speech message to provide a
recorded speech message; automatically convert at least a part of
the recorded speech message into a corresponding transcribed text
message; automatically delete at least a majority of the recorded
speech message without first making the recorded speech message
available to the target recipient via a voice-mail system.
17. The method of claim 16 further comprising: automatically
forwarding at least a part of the transcribed text message to a
recipient.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising: automatically
checking the transcribed text message for at least one
predetermined expression of interest.
19. The method of claim 18 further comprising: upon determining
that the transcribed text message includes the at least one
predetermined expression of interest, automatically taking at least
one corresponding responsive action.
20. An apparatus configured to respond to unanswered calls by
automatically transcribing a corresponding voice message from a
corresponding calling party to text and forwarding at least part of
that text to a corresponding called party without also maintaining
an audio recording of the voice message in a voice-mail system.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
application number 62/438,789, filed Dec. 23, 2016, which is
incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] These teachings relate generally to call-handling
apparatuses and more particularly to apparatuses configured to
process unanswered calls.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Voice-mail systems are known in the art. Voice-mail systems
are computer-based systems that record, store, and play back voice
messages provided by callers when their calls to a particular
called party are unanswered. More particularly, when a telephone
call goes unanswered, the system (usually in conjunction with voice
prompts) provides the caller with an opportunity to record a voice
message for the called party. The system then typically provides
one or more alerts (such as a blinking light on the called-party's
telephone station or a quickly-beeping tone that plays momentarily
when that telephone station is taken off-hook) to alert the user as
to the availability of that message.
[0004] Many voicemail systems function as a remote answering
machine using touch-tones as the user interface. By pressing
appropriate keys on their telephone station, the user can access,
playback, pause, forward, and/or delete their recorded voice
messages.
[0005] Many modern users find the traditional voice-mail paradigm
to be unsatisfactory. In particular, the user interface itself can
be cumbersome and ill-suited to the time-management strategies and
tactics of modern users. For example, the substantive content of a
voice message may comprise only a small part of the overall
temporal length of the message. The latter circumstance results
from, for example, voiced pleasantries, repetition, silent pauses
as the caller collects and organizes their thoughts, and so forth.
As a result, many users do not keep as current with their voicemail
systems as they should and many actually completely eschew use of
their systems.
[0006] As a result, voice messages can go unheard and unanswered
for considerable lengths of time or may even be systematically
ignored. At best, even responsible use of a voice-mail system can
test the patience of the user in various ways that lead to user
dissatisfaction.
[0007] Also, traditional voice mail systems typically require at
least one of an access number, a password or other code, and/or
other supplemental information to facilitate accessing the system.
Any system that requires such additional content inherently delays
the user's access to the desired content and, in addition, often
leads to failed efforts to access the content when the user
incorrectly enters the information or forgets their
information.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The above needs are at least partially met through provision
of the unanswered-call handling and routing apparatus described in
the following detailed description, particularly when studied in
conjunction with the drawings, wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 comprises a block diagram as configured in accordance
with various embodiments of these teachings; and
[0010] FIG. 2 comprises a flow diagram as configured in accordance
with various embodiments of these teachings.
[0011] Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and
clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example,
the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements
in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to
help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present
teachings. Also, common but well-understood elements that are
useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often
not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these
various embodiments of the present teachings. Certain actions
and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of
occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such
specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The
terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical
meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons
skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where
different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth
herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] Generally speaking, pursuant to these various embodiments a
suitably configured apparatus provides calling parties with an
opportunity to record a voice message when their incoming call goes
unanswered and to then automatically transcribe that voice message
to text which the apparatus then forwards to the called party
without also maintaining the recorded voice message in a voice-mail
system and without otherwise offering voice-mail playback services.
(As used herein, the expression "voice-mail playback services" will
be understood to refer to voice-based telephony-styled
communication services that (1) record a calling party's message
when the call cannot be otherwise completed and (2) provide an
alert to the called party via their telephone interface to inform
the called party of the availability of that recorded message
following which the called party (3) can select to playback the
recorded message as many times as they wish, store the recorded
message, and delete the recorded message.)
[0013] By one approach these teachings provide a control circuit
that operably couples to a private branch exchange (PBX) and at
least one network. The control circuit can be configured to receive
a forwarded call for a target recipient from the PBX and then
receive, via that forwarded call, a speech message that the control
circuit records to provide a recorded speech message. The control
circuit then provides for automatically converting at least a part
of the recorded speech message into a corresponding transcribed
text message. The control circuit then automatically deletes at
least a majority of the recorded speech message without first
making the recorded speech message available to the target
recipient via a voice-mail system.
[0014] In a typical application setting the aforementioned
forwarded call will comprise an unanswered forwarded call. Also in
a typical application setting the control circuit can be further
configured to automatically forward at least a part of the
transcribed text message to the target recipient and/or to a
recipient other than the originally-called target recipient.
[0015] These teachings are highly flexible in practice and will
accommodate various modifications and supplemental functionality.
By one approach, for example, the control circuit can accomplish
the aforementioned conversion of the recorded speech message into a
corresponding transcribed text message by forwarding at least a
part of the recorded speech message to an external speech
transcription resource.
[0016] As another example in these regards, the control circuit can
be further configured to determine when a transcribed text message
includes one or more predetermined expressions of interest. Upon
detecting the inclusion of such an expression the control circuit
can then automatically take one or more corresponding response of
actions. Examples in these regards include, but are not limited to,
highlighting predetermined expressions of interest in the
transcribed text message when forwarding the latter to a recipient,
selecting a particular recipient to receive the transcribed text
message as a function of the detected expression of interest,
and/or archiving at least a portion of the transcribed text
message.
[0017] And as another example in these regards, the control circuit
can be further configured to access additional information and
include the additional information when forwarding the transcribed
text message to the recipient. That additional information may be
accessed as a function, at least in part, of the content of the
transcribed text message, an identity of a party that originated
the call, and so forth. The additional information itself may
comprise, for example, contact information regarding a party that
originated the call, personal information regarding the party that
originated the call, and/or professional information regarding the
party that originated the call.
[0018] And as yet another example in these regards, the control
circuit can be further configured to automatically analyze the
recorded speech message to provide corresponding analytical content
such as, but not limited to, a conclusion regarding a gender of the
person who voiced the speech message, a conclusion regarding an
emotional state of the person who voiced the speech message, a
conclusion regarding a number of speakers (i.e., how many speakers)
voiced the speech message, a measure of a temporal duration of the
speech message, and so forth. By one approach that analytical
content can comprise, in whole or in part, automatically identified
trending expressions.
[0019] The resultant text-based conveyance of voice messages can
provide a considerably better user experience for many persons. As
a result, phone messages are less likely to go "unheard" and
unanswered.
[0020] These and other benefits may become clearer upon making a
thorough review and study of the following detailed description.
Referring now to FIG. 1, an illustrative apparatus 100 that is
compatible with many of these teachings will now be presented.
[0021] In this particular example, the enabling apparatus 100
includes a control circuit 101. Being a "circuit," the control
circuit 101 therefore comprises structure that includes at least
one (and typically many) electrically-conductive paths (such as
paths comprised of a conductive metal such as copper or silver)
that convey electricity in an ordered manner, which path(s) will
also typically include corresponding electrical components (both
passive (such as resistors and capacitors) and active (such as any
of a variety of semiconductor-based devices) as appropriate) to
permit the circuit to effect the control aspect of these
teachings.
[0022] Such a control circuit 101 can comprise a fixed-purpose
hard-wired hardware platform (including but not limited to an
application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (which is an
integrated circuit that is customized by design for a particular
use, rather than intended for general-purpose use), a
field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and the like) or can comprise
a partially or wholly-programmable hardware platform (including but
not limited to microcontrollers, microprocessors, and the like).
These architectural options for such structures are well known and
understood in the art and require no further description here. This
control circuit 101 is configured (for example, by using
corresponding programming as will be well understood by those
skilled in the art) to carry out one or more of the steps, actions,
and/or functions described herein.
[0023] By one optional approach the control circuit 101 operably
couples to a memory 102. This memory 102 may be integral to the
control circuit 101 or can be physically discrete (in whole or in
part) from the control circuit 101 as desired. This memory 102 can
also be local with respect to the control circuit 101 (where, for
example, both share a common circuit board, chassis, power supply,
and/or housing) or can be partially or wholly remote with respect
to the control circuit 101 (where, for example, the memory 102 is
physically located in another facility, metropolitan area, or even
country as compared to the control circuit 101).
[0024] In addition to temporarily storing voice files, this memory
102 can serve, for example, to non-transitorily store the computer
instructions that, when executed by the control circuit 101, cause
the control circuit 101 to behave as described herein. (As used
herein, this reference to "non-transitorily" will be understood to
refer to a non-ephemeral state for the stored contents (and hence
excludes when the stored contents merely constitute signals or
waves) rather than volatility of the storage media itself and hence
includes both non-volatile memory (such as read-only memory (ROM)
as well as volatile memory (such as an erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM).)
[0025] In this illustrative example the aforementioned control
circuit 101 operably couples to a private branch exchange (PBX)
103. It should be understood that the PBX 103 and the control
circuit 101 may be physically located a considerable distance from
one another (for example, by at least 1 mile, by at least 5 miles,
by at least 100 miles, or some other significant distance) and may
also be owned and/or operated by or on behalf of differing
enterprises. In one illustrative application setting, for example,
the enterprise that operates the PBX 103 may contract with the
enterprise that operates the control circuit 101 to receive some or
all of the services described herein. (Private Branch Exchanges are
very well known in the art. Accordingly, for the sake of brevity,
further details regarding the structure and functionality of a PBX
are not provided here save where specifically appropriate to this
detailed description.)
[0026] Referring now to both FIGS. 1 and 2, the control circuit 101
can be configured to carry out the process 200 presented in FIG.
2.
[0027] As an initial optional activity, and with reference to block
201, the illustrated process 200 provides a user 202 (such as
persons who use the services of the PBX 103, a system
administrator, and so forth) with an opportunity to identify one or
more expressions of interest. (As used herein, "expressions" shall
be understood to refer to one or more words or word parts,
including full or incomplete sentences if desired.) By one approach
the aforementioned opportunity comprises presenting the user with
already-available expressions from which the user can select. By
another approach, in lieu of the foregoing or in combination
therewith, this opportunity can comprise one or more text-entry
fields in which the user can enter the expression(s) of
interest.
[0028] If desired, the aforementioned apparatus 100 can include a
user interface (not shown) that operably couples to the control
circuit 101. This user interface can provide an expedient way for
the user to enter or to otherwise select the aforementioned
expressions of interest. This user interface can comprise any of a
variety of user-input mechanisms (such as, but not limited to,
keyboards and keypads, cursor-control devices, touch-sensitive
displays, speech-recognition interfaces, gesture-recognition
interfaces, and so forth) and/or user-output mechanisms (such as,
but not limited to, visual displays, audio transducers, printers,
and so forth) to facilitate receiving information and/or
instructions from a user and/or providing information to a
user.
[0029] If desired, and in combination with the foregoing, at block
203 this process 200 provides an opportunity for the user (or
another party if desired) to define corresponding actions for one
or more of the aforementioned expressions of interest. For example,
the word "bomb" could be identified as an expression of interest
and one corresponding action could be to automatically forward a
message containing that expression to one or more predetermined
email addresses. Other examples of corresponding actions include,
but are certainly not limited to, highlighting the expression in
the text of a forwarded transcribed message, selecting a particular
recipient to receive the transcribed text message that includes the
expression, and archiving at least a portion of the transcribed
text message that contains the expression of interest, to note but
a few.
[0030] By one approach, the PBX 103 operates pursuant to its
primary functionality to direct incoming calls to corresponding
target phones 104 within the service area of the PBX 103. Pursuant
to these teachings, however, when a particular incoming call for a
particular target phone 104 goes unanswered (as determined, for
example, when the ringing of the target phone 104 goes at least a
certain number of rings without the target phone 104 being
answered), the PBX 103 forwards the as yet unanswered call to the
control circuit 101.
[0031] At block 204, upon detecting such a call, in a typical (but
optional) application setting the control circuit 101 responds to
that call at block 205 with an automated outgoing recorded (or
synthesized) voice message of choice. At the least this message
provides the caller with an opportunity to leave a voice message
(i.e., a spoken-only message) for the called party. That
opportunity may happen automatically or, for example, when the
calling party presses a particular key or keys on their own
telephone.
[0032] Presuming that the calling party opts to leave a message, at
block 206 the control circuit 101 makes, or arranges to have made,
a digital recording of that voice message using a suitable file
format of choice. The prior art is replete with numerous approaches
and methodologies in these regards. As the present teachings are
not overly sensitive to any particular selection amongst these
choices, for the sake of brevity no further elaboration is provided
here regarding such recordings.
[0033] If desired, the control circuit 101 can also capture (for
example, as metadata for the aforementioned digital recording)
other available information such as the time of the call, the
temporal duration of the digital recording, caller identification
information for the caller, and so forth. That information can be
temporarily stored, for example, in the aforementioned memory
102.
[0034] Pursuant to these teachings at block 207 the control circuit
101 then automatically transcribes that digital recording to a
textual transcription. By one approach the control circuit 101
makes part or all of that conversion itself. By another approach
the control circuit 101 makes use of a remote voice transcription
resource 106 to transcribe part or all of the voice message. In any
case the control circuit 101 thereby produces a text file/document
that corresponds to the voice message.
[0035] It is of course possible that the automated speech-to-text
conversion process includes errors in the form of mis-translated
words or even non-translatable utterances. In many cases, however,
such errors/exclusions are not fatal errors as the recipient will
often be able to glean at least the gist of the substantive content
notwithstanding such errors or omissions.
[0036] By one approach, and as illustrated at optional block 208,
these teachings will accommodate automatically analyzing the
recorded speech message to provide corresponding analytical
content. Examples in these regards include but are not limited to
detecting, characterizing, and assessing message sentiment and/or
an emotional state of the person who voiced the speech message, the
gender of the caller, the number of individual speakers who
contributed to the speech message, a measure of the temporal
duration of the speech message, and audio quality of the speech
message.
[0037] As another example in these regards the content of the
transcribed message can be automatically analyzed to identify and
note trending expressions. That is, expressions such as particular
nouns or short combinations of words that are "trending" because
they are occurring with relatively high frequency over many
messages from many different parties. For example, when the users
of a particular PBX 103 are elected officials and their
administrative assistants, it can be useful to understand when a
considerable number of their received messages from their
constituents all contain identical words like "taxes," "health
care," and so forth. In cases like this the analysis can include
related statistics such as what percentage of all incoming messages
on a given day include which automatically-noted and tracked
expressions.
[0038] The results of the foregoing automated analysis can then be
stored 209 for later use as desired.
[0039] At this point, and by one approach, at block 210 the digital
recording is now deleted. For example, the digital recording may be
deleted automatically within, say, 1 second, 5 seconds, 1 minute,
10 minutes, or 1 hour of completing the aforementioned
transcription. At the very least the digital recording is not
placed into a traditional record/store/playback voice-mail system
as these teachings presume dispensing with any such system. By one
approach, if desired, the digital recording, or some part thereof,
may be archived for some set period of time such that a system
administrator might be able to access the recording but not the
called party (at least in ordinary course of usage). Such archiving
can serve, for example, to help with quality assurance regarding
the corresponding automated transcriptions.
[0040] By one optional approach, at block 211 the control circuit
101 determines whether the transcribed message includes any
expressions of interest (such as, for example expressions of
interest that a user entered or identified per the description
provided above for block 201). When true, the control circuit 101
can take the appropriate action at block 212 that corresponds to
the detect expression(s).
[0041] At optional block 213 the control circuit 101 access
external content comprising additional information of interest.
"External" content will be understood to refer to content that is
not explicitly included in the original spoken message and that is
not otherwise a part of the original call (such as caller
identification information). By one approach the external content
is accessed as a function, at least in part, of at least one of the
content of the transcribed text message and the identity of the
party that originated the call. The external content can be drawn
from any one or more of a variety of public and non-public
resources as desired, including consumer relationship management
databases, on-line biographies from professional social networking
services, and so forth.
[0042] Examples of such additional information include, but are not
limited to, contact information regarding a party that originated
the call (such as email addresses, twitter handles, and so forth),
personal information regarding the party that originated the call
(such as their name, their families, and so forth), and
professional information regarding the party that originated the
call (such as their employer, their academic history and alma
maters, and so forth).
[0043] At block 214 the control circuit 101 then arranges to
forward that text version of the message to the called party by
forwarding a message containing that text version to a target
device 107 (such as a desktop or laptop computer or a so-called
smartphone) for the called party via, for example, one or more
intervening networks 108 (such as but not limited to the Internet
and/or an available wireless data network). The text can be sent to
the called party using a proprietary format/medium or any of a
variety of available choices in such regards. Examples include but
are not limited to email, short message service (SMS) text
messages, the Gmail Notifier communications service, the Microsoft
Lync communications service, the Cisco Jabber communications
service, and so forth.
[0044] In a typical application setting the system may maintain a
profile for such users that includes, for example, a preferred
forwarding address (such as an email address or a mobile telephone
number) and/or a preferred forwarding mechanism (such as emailing
or texting). Such a profile can further provide for forwarding the
aforementioned message using both of two or more different
transmission modalities (such as both emailing and texting) (either
simultaneously or within some very short period of time, such as
within 1 second, 5 seconds, 15 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and so
forth).
[0045] As yet another example in these regards the forwarding
modality or details can be dynamically selected at the time of need
based upon, for example, details regarding the caller (such as
caller ID information or time of day) and/or details in the content
of the message itself (such as the name of a specific person,
project, or the like). So configured, and as a specific
non-limiting illustrative example, a given user may prefer that
text messages be sent to their mobile phone to receive messages
being forwarded outside of work hours but may prefer email messages
to receive messages being forwarded during work hours.
[0046] By one approach, the control circuit 101 may include with
the text message some of the additional information described above
and/or some of the analytical content described above. By
automatically including such information with the message that
includes the transcribed voice message, the called party has
additional information available to consider the transcription in a
fuller, richer context.
[0047] By one optional approach, if desired, the aforementioned
message that contains the transcription can also include an
appended file comprising the original voice message itself. The
called party can then handle that audio file as they wish. For
example, the called party can delete that audio file, play part or
all of that audio file, forward that audio file, store that audio
file, and so forth. Even in this case, however, it will be
understood that the system itself does not maintain a voice-mail
system that provides user-accessible voice-mail audio messages in
ordinary course of use. Instead, the speech-to-text transcription
constitutes the heart of this approach and inclusion of an audio
file containing the original voice message is an accoutrement that
supplements that text message without itself constituting a
voice-mail system by another name.
[0048] As another option in these same regards, in lieu of the
foregoing or in combination therewith, the recipient may be
provided with an opportunity to stream the recorded voice message
(by providing in the email or SMS message, for example, a link to
the streaming source). The opportunity to stream the recorded
message may be time limited and only be available, for example, for
30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, or some other limited duration of time
as desired.
[0049] These teachings are highly flexible in practice and will
accommodate a wide variety of supplemental features and/or
modifications. As one example in these regards, after converting
the original voice message into a textual counterpart, the control
circuit 101 could then arrange to translate that textual message
into a different language (for example, by translating English text
into French text) and then sending the translated text to the
called party (with or without the original English text). Numerous
other examples can be found in the attached Appendix, which
Appendix comprises a part of this application and is otherwise
fully incorporated herein by this reference.
[0050] Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety
of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with
respect to the above described embodiments without departing from
the scope of the invention, and that such modifications,
alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the
ambit of the inventive concept.
[0051] As one pertinent example in these regards, these teachings
can be applied and leveraged in an application setting that lacks a
PBX. Instead, for example, mobile users can simply conditionally
forward their cellular phones to the aforementioned control circuit
101 and the latter will answer missed calls for such users in the
same manner as is described above and absent any intervening PBX or
PBX extension. Generally speaking, the above-described and
configured control circuit 101 can accept a forwarded call from any
session initiation protocol (SIP) trunk (for example, from a SIP
number provisioned by a network carrier (such as Flowroute, Twilio,
ATT, and so forth).
[0052] By way of a more specific example in these regards, by one
approach an enterprise system administrator (or user) can add the
user's mobile number to the control circuit 101 from, for example,
the aforementioned user interface which might include a
corresponding web portal to support this functionality. The user
can then conditionally forward their phone to a pilot number
provided by, for example, a system administrator by entering a
corresponding set-up string. Conversely, this mobile forwarding can
be deactivated when the user enters a deactivation string.
[0053] In such a case, the above-described system can answer
multiple numbers for the same user. For example, if a user has an
extension off an enterprise PBX and a mobile phone (or other
number) the control circuit 101 can answer all of the user's calls.
This approach creates a consistent caller experience and simplifies
messaging for the individual because now all their messages to any
of a variety of phones can be delivered to one inbox.
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